Preseason prognosis: Miami Heat at New Orleans Pelicans

NEW ORLEANS — A pregame look at the agenda for each Miami Heat preseason game, with the Heat to face the New Orleans Pelicans at 8 p.m. Wednesday at New Orleans Arena (Sun Sports):

The issues: With LeBron James considering sitting out Friday's exhibition finale against the Brooklyn Nets at AmericanAirlines Arena, this could be somewhat of a dress rehearsal for the Heat for their season opener next Tuesday against the visiting Chicago Bulls. Ray Allen also is expected to return after being held out the previous three games. Dwyane Wade, who is coming off a strong effort Saturday against the Spurs, had been in a pattern of skipping every other exhibition, but will have had three days off between games. The Heat's rotation will be tighter, with Jarvis Varnado, Larry Drew II and Charlie Westbrook waived Monday. The Heat still must cut at least two more players to get down to the regular-season maximum of 15 by Monday's 3 p.m. deadline.

The injuries: The Heat are mostly healthy again, with forward Udonis Haslem pushing through a virus and Allen expected back after his week off. Center Greg Oden remains in rehab mode with his knee issues, yet to play this preseason. For the Pelicans, forward Darius Miller is out with a stress fracture in his left foot. Also, New Orleans guard Eric Gordon is working his way back from offseason ankle surgery and forward Ryan Anderson is recovering from a hip ailment.

The opposition: The Pelicans are a league-best 6-0 this preseason, coming off Saturday's 93-89 victory over the Wizards in Lexington, Ky., with this their lone home game of the preseason. New Orleans moved into a win-now mode in the offseason, signing free-agent guard Tyreke Evans and trading their first-round pick to the 76ers for point guard Jrue Holiday. Also acquired in the offseason were guard Anthony Morrow and center Greg Stiemsma. The key remains the maturation of 2012 No. 1 overall pick Anthony Davis, the former Kentucky forward.

Pregame note of note: Pelicans forward Anthony Davis, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, last season became just the fifth rookie in NBA history to record averages of at least 13.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, 1.0 steals and 1.0 assists per game. He also became the youngest player in the history of the NBA to record those statistical averages in a season. Davis, Dwight Howard and Josh Smith were the lone NBA players to reach each of those thresholds last season.

Forward thinking: While the playoffs are the goal, the Pelicans remain a clear cut below the top tier of the Western Conference that includes the Thunder, Spurs and Clippers, and would appear a step below the Rockets and Warriors, as well. It could come down to pushing the Grizzlies, Lakers and Nuggets for one of the final postseason spots in the conference.